(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an operating terminal such as a POS (Point of Sales) terminal placed in a store, and more particularly to an operating terminal in which an operable level depending on an operator can be selected from among a plurality of operable levels, such as a level in which only a registration operation for commodities can be performed, a level in which a checking operation for proceeds can be also performed and a level in which a settlement operation for proceeds can be further performed.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in stores, POS terminals are popular, and the registration of commodities, the checking of proceeds, the settlement of the proceeds and the like are performed by using the POS terminals. In the POS terminals, operable levels for operators may be set for security. The operable level indicates a scope of operation which can be performed by an operator.
In a case where the operable levels for operators are prescribed in a POS terminal, an operator number identifying an operator is registered by a manual operation or by reading a bar code in the POS terminal before starting an input operation for information regarding commodities, and a operable level table as show in FIG. 1 provided in the POS terminal or in a host is retrieved so that an operable level corresponding to the operator identified by the registered operator number is decided. The operable level table shown in FIG. 1 indicates operators' names and operable levels for the respective operators corresponding to the operator numbers. When an operator number is input to the POS terminal, the operable level table is retrieved for a corresponding operable level based on the input operator number. In FIG. 1, an OP level is an operable level in which only a registration operation for commodities can be performed, an X level is an operable level in which a checking operation for proceeds can be also performed and a Z level is an operable level in which a settlement operation for proceeds can be further performed.
In addition, there is a case where an operator's name is printed on a recording sheet such as a receipt. In this case, an operator's name file is retrieved for an operator's name identified by an operator number input to the POS terminal, and the operator's name is printed on the recording sheet.
In the above conventional POS terminal, to set an operable level for an operator of the POS terminal, before starting an input operation to the POS terminal, the operable table indicating a plurality of operable levels must be made in the POS terminal or the host, and the operable table must be retrieved. Thus, the structure of the POS terminal is complex and operations of the POS terminal is troublesome.